KARACHI -The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday declared the chief minister’s summary to allot forest land to peasant women as illegal and affirmed the forest land is a national asset. A division bench, comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Imam Bux Baloch, passed the verdict, allowing Indus Development Organisation (IDO)’s constitutional petition that sought declaration of CM’s order as invalid. IDO head Zain Dawood Potha moved the petition through his counsel Qazi Ali Ather Advocate, submitting that on a directive of President Zardari, the CM had allotted 20 acres of forest land to peasant women across Sindh last year while changing its status to revenue land. Earlier, Forest Secretary Mushtaq Memon had appeared before the court and admitted that the status of the land was illegally changed by the government.
